Cable connector



June 1942; H. P. CHANDLER CABLE CONNECTOR Filed May 25, 1940 3nventor HbMEB f? CHANDLER attorney Patented June 2, 1942 CABLE CONNECTOR Homer P. Chandler, Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to The Ohio Brass Company, Mansfield, Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Application May 25, 1940, semi No. 337,221

3 Claims. (Cl. 173-328) Another object of my invention is to provide a connector in which the contacts are easily removable through the rear ends or entrance ends of the connector parts.

Another object of my invention is to provide a two part connector provided with means to either draw or hold the parts together.

A further object of my invention is to provide a connector part in which the casing is split and may be spread apart at-its rear or cable entrance end to facilitate removal of the contacts for connection to the cable conductors and easy reinsertion of the contacts after connection to the conductors.

Further objects \of my invention will be disclosed as I proceed with a descriptionof my invention. f

My invention resides in the new and novel construction, combination and relation of the parts hereinaftendescribed and shown in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing;

Fig. 1 is a side view in partial sectionof my invention and shown as connecting twdthree-wire cables. 1

Fig. 2 is a face view of the male portion of my connector. 1 I

Fig. 3 is a. face view of the femaleportion of my connector. 1 t

Fig. 4 is a full sectional view of the male portion of my connector taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. I f

Fig. 5 is a full sectional view of ;'the female portion of my connector taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a full sectional view taken 66 of Fig. 1. j

Fig. 7 shows the rear or entrance end of the casing forming a part of my invention and shows the manner in which the\ same may be spread to facilitate the insertionand removal of the contacts. 3

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8+8 of Fig. 4, omitting, however, the clamp. This section shows the manner in which the end of each casing is split.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention,

on the line ,I provide two parts A and B, which are the male and female parts respectively.

The parts A and B are provided with casings I and 2 respectively which may be termed bellshaped and which are duplicates excepting that the part I is provided with a flange 3 which overlaps the end of the casing l to prevent or resist the entrance of moisture.

Each casing is a single unit including the diaphragm 4 and forming an integral part of the outer portion of the casing. Each diaphragm 4 is provided with openings 5 through which project the contacts. The casings are formed or moulded preferably from rubber.

Projecting rearwardly from the inner surface of each diaphragm 4 is abarrier 6 which prevents the contacts being forced together in case the connector is run-over by a mine car or mining machine, as'the casing being of yieldable material will not ofier any resistance to the weight of the car or machine.

Each male contact is provided with a rearwardly projecting part 1 which is drilled to receive the end of a cable held in position by a set screw 8 and is, also, provided with a forwardly slotted projection 9 which is received by the female contact.

The female contact is provided with a portion III which is drilled to receive the end of a cable held in place by the set screw l I. The contact is, also, provided with an opening 12 to receive the portion 9 of the male contact. The opening in all contacts is drilled ofi' center as shown in Fig. 6

thus permitting the cable wires to rest more.

closely to the longitudinal center of the connector.

Each contact is held in place by means of a threaded nut l3. A raised flange l3 (see Figs. 2 and 3) offers additional leakage surface between the various contacts. The nuts iii are provided with slots l5 bymeans of which a tool applied thereto may be used to tighten the nuts.

The casings I and 2 are split longitudinally as shown at I6 in Figs. 1, 7 and 8 for a considerable distance back from the rear end of the casings.

This permits the rear end of the casings to be spread apart so that after'the nuts l3 have been removed it is possible to withdraw the contacts through the rear opening with considerable ease. This is possible since the casing is formed from a rubberwhich is flexible thus permitting the split ends to be spread apart and due to the elasticity of the rubber the spread ends of the casings have the power to spring back to their normal or original form. The casing may be made from a tough grade of rubber such as used in auto tires or what is known as "car spring rubber or any other grade of rubber suitable for the Pu pose described. I do not wish to be limited to the use of rubber per se as there are a number of synthetic products which may be used; therefore, the term rubber is to include such other materials as are suitable for my invention.

Having'removed the contacts the ends of the cable are inserted in the opening therein and the parts A and B and distortion of the casings.

In order to prevent misconnections, I prefer to color the face of the flanges It to correspond the screws 8 and II manipulated to hold the cable in place. In the drawing the cables II are shown as having three insulated conductors and the connector is shown with each part having three contacts, if desired the connector may be made with either one or two contactsor any number of contacts as required by the number of conductors in the cable.

After the contacts have been assembled to the end of the conductors the end of the casing is spread'apart as shown in Fig. 7 and the contacts repositioned in the openings in the diaphragm l. The spread end of the casing is then allowed to spring back into normal position as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. '7 and the nuts l3 reassembled on the contacts. A screw clamp I8 is applied to the rear end of each part A and B for the purpose of holding the split parts of the casing in normal position and also to securely clamp the casing onto the cable ll thus insuring a waterproof interior of the casing and preventing any pull of cable conductors upon the contacts which would tend to break the connection. If the cable II should be under-sized then the usual practice is to apply suflicient tape to the outside of the cable to bring it up to a size where the casing will clamp securely thereto.

The device is subjected to very rough usage in a mine as it may be dragged considerable distances over the rough floor of the mine by a mining machine to which one end of the cable is attached. In order to prevent the parts A and B separating under such usage, I employ means for holding the parts together consisting of the chain and toggle arrangement C which is attached to screws or rivets i9 and IS. The free end of the chain portion 20 is fixed to its screw I! while the free end of the toggle portion 2| is provided with a hook which engages with its screw IS.

The toggle portion 2| is provided with a lever 22 pivoted to the hook portion 23 at 24. Pivoted to the portion 22 at 25 is the link-26. When the lever 22 moved clockwise about the pivot 24 the pivot 25 and link 26 move downwardly and to the left thereby lengthening holding means 0 and permitting the portion 23 to be unhooked from the screw or rivet l9 thus permitting the parts A and B to be separated. Having placed the parts A and 3 together 'the hook of the member 23 is then attached to the screw or rivet I! and the lever 22 moved anticlockwise about the pivot 24 which shortens the chain and toggle C thus holding the parts A and 13 together, preferably with a slight compression which prevents the entrance of moisture and the short-circuiting of the contacts along the face of the diaphragm.

By clamping each casing to its cable by means of the'clamps l8 and connecting the clamps by the flexible chain connection 20, I am able to relieve the connector of all strain in tension tending to bi'eak the connection of the conductors to --the contacts, to hold the parts A and B together under compression and to prevent separation of to the color of the insulation on the individual wires as provided by the manufacturer of the cable. In one instance the face of the flanges i3 would be colored red, white and black respectively.

In order to properly connect the parts A and B, I provide on the flange l of the part A a slightly raised or depressed indicator 21 and on the part B directly opposite the indicator 21, I provide a similar indicator 28, both moulded as a part of the casings, and when these indicators are positioned opposite each other the conductors will be properly connected.

If desired, when there are two or more contacts on each part A and B, a part of the contacts on one part may be male and the balance female, and the contacts on the other part also changed to cooperate with those on the first part. This arrangement of contacts will also prevent wrong connecting.

The diaphragm 4 of the casings being elastic and flexible, there is little if any difficulty in bringing themale and female parts together for the reason that the diaphragm is yieldable to any reasonable differences.

The slot or cut I6 is shown as curved in Fig. 8 as I flnd this to be more satisfactory and efficient then where the cut is radial; there is more resistance to the entrance of moisture thus effected.

I have arranged to lock the connector parts against malicious disconnecting or for other reasons by providing the member 26 with a hole 30 in which may be hooked a padlock (not shown), thus preventing operating the toggle lever 22 to its open position.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described'for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A connector for a plurality of conductors comprising a pair of connector parts, each part comprising a one-piece casing of elastic, flexible, deformable material provided with a diaphragm at one end forming with the casing sidewall a receptacle, the casing having a passage at the other end through which a cable may be passed, the casing being split for a distance back from the end to permit spreading the end thereof for convenient access to the receptacle, openings through each diaphragm, a. contact positioned in each opening and projecting inwardly from the diaphragm into the receptacle and having an externally exposed portion, the externally exposed contact portions of one casing projecting outwardly beyond the outer end face of the casing and cooperating with those exposed contact portions on the other casing to form a complete electrical connector between the conm tor parts, each contact provided with means on; its inward- 1y projecting portion to receive and hold a conductor end and means to hold the split end of each casing in normal condition, the said means comprising an adjustable clamp about the split end of each casing whereby the casing may be drawn into engagement with the cable to anchor the casing to the cable and close, the slit in the casing, flexible means connecting the clamps and means connecting the flexible means to one clamp whereby the means may be drawn taut to hold the connector parts in connected relation and under compressive stress.

2. A connector. for a plurality of conductors comprising a pair of connector parts, each part comprising a one-niece casing of elastic, flexible,

, deformable material provided with a diaphragm at one end and a recess, an opening at the other end of the casing opening into the recess, the easing being split for a distance back from the end to permit spreading the end for convenient access to the recess, openings through each dia- I} phragm, a contact positioned in each opening and projecting inwardly from the diaphragm into the recess and having an externally exposed portion, the externally exposed contact portions of one casing projecting outwardly beyond the outer end face of the casing and cooperating with those contacts on the other casing to form a complete electrical connector between the connector parts, each contact provided with means on its inwardly projecting portion to receive and hold a conductor end, adjustable clamping means surrounding the end of each casing to draw the slit faces of the casing together to prevent entrance of moisture and to hold the split end of each casing in 25 engagement with the cable extending therethrough to prevent slippage between the cable and casing and adjustable and flexibly formed meansconnected to and mechanically connectconnectorpart and to which contact or contacts 9 I the conductor of the cable is attached, the combination with the said sleeves of means to clampthe sleeves onto the cable to anchor the sleeves to their respective cable to resist longitudinal movement of the cable relative to its sleeve and to hold the connector parts from separating, the said means comprising anadjustable clamp encircling each sleeve whereby the sleeve may be drawn into engagement with its cable to anchor the sleeve to the cable and flexible means connecting the clamps, the means connecting the flexible means to one clamp arranged to draw the flexible means taut to hold the connector parts in connected relation and under compressive i stress.

HOIWER P. CHANDLER. 

